


Climb Higher

by PeriPeriwinkle



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-04
Updated: 2017-12-04
Packaged: 2019-02-10 15:35:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12914895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeriPeriwinkle/pseuds/PeriPeriwinkle
Summary: "We have climbed higher. Remember the Aeries of the Sirin?""I'd rather not..."





	Climb Higher

Valmar thought he knew what he was getting himself into. Why would he think otherwise? Ionia had plenty of challenging mountains and hills, and he’d traversed through quite a few of them throughout the years. He’d heard what people often said about the Aeries of the Sirin, of course: an intimidating mountain, as tall as it was beautiful. Still, it was just a mountain, and not unlike all the others he’d encountered before.

He’d forgotten, of course, about factors other than his strength and stamina that could potentially make the climb a tad more challenging than anticipated.

He sneezed – _again_ – and Kai frowned.

“Are you sure you’re quite alright, Val?”

Valmar grunted, and if asked he’d say he was _not_ sulking, not at all. However, Kai would probably say otherwise.

In his mind’s eye he could see Kai looking up at the snow-peaked mountain as they rested on the grassy plains below, daydreaming about climbing its rocks and facing its hills, just so he could reach the peak and look down at Runeterra. Watch the sunset. Memorize all the different colors the sky could change into. And old dream of when he was young, long before he became the fighter he is right now.

Valmar thought it all sounded rather romantic.

In a whim, he took Kai’s hands in his own, telling him that his dream wasn’t as silly or impossible as he made it out to be, and promised that they’d both, as one, climb the Aeries of the Sirin, and they’d do it just as well as they did any other mountain before it. Arrangements were made, and not seven days later they went, making their way up ever so slowly, pausing to rest wherever the mountain allowed them to.

However, Valmar underestimated not only the mountain’s height, but also its icy temperatures as they rose ever further up. It bit into his skin and number his fingertips.

At least they had more of a breeze rather than a tempest, and although snow had gathered atop the higher parts of the Aeries, no more threatened to fall from the clear skies above.

_Think positive, Val. Keep going._

He breathed in through his mouth, the thin air scratching the back of his throat and making him long for another pause for water, fingers tightening where they gripped the rocky wall. He then looked up to reply – only for his eyes to unwillingly focus on Kai’s behind, directly in his line of sight. He had a brief glance of Kai grinning impishly before he quickly looked away, his cheeks flushing with something else but the cold for once.

“I’m _fine_ ,” he grumbled, annoyed with himself, then reached up to keep climbing.

Except the fissure he’d hooked his fingers into wasn’t as solid as he expected, and it crumbled like dry clay as he put his weight onto it. Kai’s eyes widened, and Valmar breathed in sharply, instinctively reached further up and tried to hold on to something else that would keep him from losing his balance.

The first thing his hand found was, unfortunately, Kai’s ankle.

Kai yelped, losing his own grip as he was pulled down, and Valmar cursed the gods as his feet slipped and his body weight tipped back, a cold, uncomfortable feeling sinking onto the pit of his gut as he felt himself go into freefall. How far up had they gone from the last outcropping they’d stopped at to rest, he wondered, praying that his body would cushion Kai’s drop as they hit the ground.

_Should I die_ , he thought, pleadingly, _let me not take Kai with me._

But worrying was for naught; the outcropping wasn’t nearly as far down as Valmar thought it was. His exhausted mind and cold body playing tricks on his perception of time. It took merely a second for him to fall onto solid ground, his tailbone taking the brunt of the impact and the bag on his back protecting his shoulders as he collapsed.

Not half a second later came down Kai, like a ripe fruit ready for the picking, squashing him further onto the rocky ground.

Valmar almost regretted asking for the gods that he’d cushion the man’s fall. _Almost_.

Several seconds of awkward silence passed by – Val was certain Kai would not be particularly happy with him after nearly killing both of them – but then Val sneezed, jostling them both, and Kai started laughing. His whole body shook above Val’s, pressing him rather uncomfortably onto the bag still strapped to his back, and Val opened his mouth to retort, complain, _object_ – only to sneeze again, which in turn brought a new fit of laughter upon Kai.

“You’re _crushing_ me,” Valmar wheezed out, and Kai easily lifted himself on his forearms, looking down at Val, his wide smile crinkling the corners of his blue eyes. If Valmar actually was any level of angry or upset, at that moment, looking up at Kai, he couldn’t remember why.

Oh, how far gone he was.

“I can’t believe that just happened,” Kai said in between giggles.

“I can’t believe we’re both _whole_.”

“I can’t believe you fell. You _actually_ fell.”

“Let us not speak of this again, or I risk my dignity not being as whole as I am.”

Kai smiled, soft and gentle, and leaned down, pressing their lips together. Valmar closed his eyes and pressed back up against him, feeling the warmth of the man’s lips against his own, the smell of his breath, the scratch of his stubble.

When he got up he offered his hand to Valmar, who gladly took it, clasping his palm against his forearm.

“Come, my heartlight. Let’s finish what we started, shall we?”

The final stretch upwards was not an easy one, especially now they were both bruised and aching, but still they persevered. Kai rearranged Valmar’s coat around his neck to further protect him from the cold and rubbed a poultice on the small of his back to alleviate the pain, and both things, although small, helped him push forward the last few miles. It took them an hour longer than it would’ve taken them hadn’t they fallen, but they reached the peak right on time.

On the horizon, the sun was just starting its slow descend towards Runeterra’s ocean, but wehat first caught Valmar and Kai’s attention was the life that endured at the frigid mountaintop: the peak of the mountain had patches of fresh, fluffy snow, but it also had spindly trees with green leaves and fresh foliage that covered the ground like a carpet of velvet. They quickly settled down on the grass, surrounded by bushes of colorful wild flowers that seemed to magically withstand the elements; heliotrope and camellias fluttered in the wind, their scent reaching their noses and calming their tired bodies, and there they stayed, legs outstretched, touching shoulder to shoulder.

The sky ever so slowly changed colors before their very eyes, turning first into a bright orange, then pink and purple, until it became various hues of gradually darker blue. Thousands of stars began twinkling above, slowly appearing amongst the clouds, and below, several spots of light began illuminating the lands, one by one, villages, cities and their citizens preparing for the evening.

The sayings were all true, after all: the Aeries of the Sirin was indeed a mountain as tall as it was beautiful. Valmar was exhausted and longing for a bed, but not for a second he regretted this adventure with the man he loved.

Valmar fished a blanket from their packs and threw it over both their shoulders, and immediately Kai snuggled closer, seeking out Valmar’s body warmth, their hands and fingers intertwining, coming together like a piece of a puzzle. Kai squeezed tight, once, and Valmar closed his eyes.

“My heartlight,” Val whispered against Kai’s cheek, just as the last few sunrays bathed them in light. And at that moment, right at the tallest point of the tallest mountain in Runeterra, the couple knew they could achieve anything they put their minds into.

Just as long as they were together.

**Author's Note:**

> Camellia: my destiny is in your hands
> 
> Helioptrope: eternal love, devotion, prophetic dreams


End file.
